Boot sling system

ABSTRACT

A sling system comprises a boot to receive a stock at a first end portion of an equipment to be carried by the sling system and a strap having a first end attached to the boot and a second end to extend about a second end portion of the equipment.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation application claiming priorityunder 35 USC Section 120 from co-pending U.S. Provisional ApplicationSer. No. 61583182 filed on Jan. 5, 2012 by Michael M. Arajakis andentitled BOOT SLING SYSTEM AND SIGHT COVER, full disclosure of which ishereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

In various activities, such as hunting, equipment such as guns, rifles,shotguns are crossbows may need to be carried across large distances.During such activities, carrying such equipment may become tedious andtiresome. Existing systems for carrying such equipment may add largeamounts of weight to the overall load that must be carried, may becomplex and may render the equipment difficult to quickly access foruse.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example sporting equipment transportsystem with an example sling system for carrying an example equipment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another example implementation of thesling system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another example sporting equipmenttransport system with the example sling system of FIG. 1 carryinganother example equipment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the sporting equipment transport systemof FIG. 3 being worn by a person.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another example implementation of thesling system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the sling system of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 illustrates a sporting equipment transport system 20 comprising asling system 22 for carrying sporting equipment 24. As will be describedhereafter, sling system 22 allow sporting equipment 24 to betransporting carried over a person's shoulder without adding largeamount of weight to the overall load being carried. Moreover, slingsystem 22 is intuitive to use and provides quick access to sportingequipment 24 for use.

Sporting equipment 24 comprises any sporting equipment having a firstend with a stock and a second discharge end. In the example illustrated,sporting equipment 24 comprises a firearm comprising a gun, rifle orshotgun having a stock 26, a trigger 28 and a barrel 30.

Sling system 22 facilitates transport of sporting equipment 24 over aperson's shoulder. Sling system 22 comprises boot 40, strap 42 and strapmount 44. Boot 40 comprises a bag, cap or other receptacle configured toreceive stock 26. Boot 40 comprises a mouth 46 having a height extendingup from a floor 48 to a top 50 of the mouth 46 and a width extendingbetween opposite sides of the mountain, the height being greater thanthe width. In one implementation, boot 40 is formed from a resilientlystretchable or elastic material or fabric such that boot 40 receives andgrips stock 26. In another implementation, boot 40 may be formed from aflexible but inelastic material, such as a fabric, leather or polymer,wherein mouth 46 is encircled by a resiliently stretchable or elasticband of material or fabric to grip about stock 26. In yet otherimplementations, the entirety boot 40 may be formed from a soft elastic,but flexible fabric, leather or polymeric material.

Strap 42 extends from boot 40 and stock 26 of equipment 24 to anopposite end portion of equipment 24. Strap 42 has a first end 54attached to boot 40 adjacent a top 50 of mouth 46 and a second end 56coupled to strap mount 44. For purposes of this disclosure, the term“coupled” shall mean the joining of two members directly or indirectlyto one another. Such joining may be stationary in nature or movable innature. Such joining may be achieved with the two members or the twomembers and any additional intermediate members being integrally formedas a single unitary body with one another or with the two members or thetwo members and any additional intermediate member being attached to oneanother. Such joining may be permanent in nature or alternatively may beremovable or releasable in nature. Strap 42 has a length such that thesecond end 56 extends adjacent to the barrel 30 on a side of the trigger28 opposite the stock 26 while the boot 40 receives the stock 26.

Strap mount 44 is coupled to end 56 a strap 42 and is configured tosecure strap 42 to the end of equipment 24 opposite to stock 26. In theexample illustrated, strap mount 44 comprises an open loop formed fromstrap 42 itself. In one example, strap mount 44 comprises a first loop60 through which the remaining portion of strap 42 passes to form asecond constructible loop 62 which constricts about barrel 30 ofequipment 24. In because strap mount 44 is formed from loop 42 and isconstructible, strap mount 44 is less complex and less inexpensive whilesecurely securing strap 42 to barrel 30. In other implementations, strapmount 44 may have other configurations. For example, strap mount 42 maycomprise a portion of strap 42, wherein such portions are wrapped aboutbarrel 30 and retained relative to one another in a wrapped state with aclip mechanism, button, snap, hook and loop fastener or other mechanism.

FIG. 2 illustrates sling system to 22, another implementation of slingsystem 22. As shown by 2, sling system 222 is identical to sling system22 except that sling system 222 additionally includes shoulder pad 264.Shoulder pad 264 comprises a band wider than strap 42 having aresiliently compressible material, such as foam, to provide a softpadding. Pad 264 includes an internal passage through which strap 42extends, allowing pad 264 to be slid to an appropriate location alongstrap 42. Pad 264 is located so as to extend across a person's shoulderwhen sling system 22 is being utilized to transport equipment 24.

FIG. 3 illustrates sporting equipment transport system 320, anotherimplementation of sporting equipment transport system 20. Transportsystem 320 is identical to transport system 20 except that transportsystem 320 is releasably or removably secured to equipment 324 ratherthan being releasably or removably secured to equipment 24. Equipment324 comprises a crossbow having stock 26, trigger 28 and a foot stirrup330 having a neck 331. As shown by FIG. 3, when sling system 22 issecured to equipment 324, boot 40 receives stock 26 while strap 44 wrapsabout or encircles the neck 331 of stirrup 330. Strap 42 has a lengthsuch that the second and strap encircles the neck 331 of the footstirrup 330 while the boot 40 receives the stock 26.

FIG. 4 illustrates sling system 422, another implementation of slingsystem 22 and sling system 222. FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective viewof sling system 422. As shown by FIGS. 4 and 5, sling system 422 issimilar to sling system 222 except that sling system 422 comprises strap442 in lieu of strap 42. Those components of sling system 422 thatcorrespond to components of sling system 22 are numbered simile.

Strap 442 extends from boot 40 to strap mount 44. Strap 442 comprisesend portion 470, padded yoke 472, diverging strap portion 474 and endportion 476. End portion 470 extends from boot 40 at one end and isjoined to padded yoke 472 at an opposite end. In the exampleillustrated, end portion 470 wraps about a ring 478 secured to yoke 472and extends through an adjustment slider 480 such that end portion 470has an adjustable length.

Padded yoke 472 comprises a Y-shaped or U-shaped padded member to bepositioned against the shoulders back or shoulders when carryingequipment 24, 324. In one implementation, padded yoke number 472includes a layer of resiliently compressible material, such as foam orneoprene. Padded yoke 472 comprises a single yoke end 482 and a pair ofspaced divergent ends 484. Single yoke end 482 is coupled to strap endportion 470 while divergent ends 484 are coupled to opposite ends ofdiverging strap portion 474. In the example illustrated, end 482includes an extension webbing 486 secured about ring 478. Similarly, oneof ends 484 includes an extension webbing secured about a ring 490.Padded yoke 472 Spreads the weight or load across a person's back orshoulders.

Diverging strap portion 474 is coupled to the opposite ends 484 of yoke472. In the example illustrated, one end of diverging strap portion 474passes through ring 490 and further passes through adjustment slidernumber 492 to facilitate length adjustment of diverging strap portion474.

Strap end portion 442 extends from diverting strap portion 474 to strapmount 44. In the example illustrated, strap end portion 442 itself formsstrap mount 44 (described above). In the example illustrated, strap endportion 442 extends through ring 494, which also receives divertingstrap portion 474, and further extends through adjustment slider 496 (abuckle) to provide strap and portion 442 with an adjustable length.Although each of strap and portions 470, 476 and diverging end portion474 are described as having an adjustable length using rings 478, 490and 494 in conjunction with adjustment sliders 480, 492 and 496,respectively, in other implementations, one or more of such adjustmentmechanisms may be omitted.

Although the present disclosure has been described with reference toexample embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize thatchanges may be made in form and detail without departing from the spiritand scope of the claimed subject matter. For example, although differentexample embodiments may have been described as including one or morefeatures providing one or more benefits, it is contemplated that thedescribed features may be interchanged with one another or alternativelybe combined with one another in the described example embodiments or inother alternative embodiments. Because the technology of the presentdisclosure is relatively complex, not all changes in the technology areforeseeable. The present disclosure described with reference to theexample embodiments and set forth in the following claims is manifestlyintended to be as broad as possible. For example, unless specificallyotherwise noted, the claims reciting a single particular element alsoencompass a plurality of such particular elements.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: a sling systemcomprising: a boot to receive a stock at a first end portion of anequipment to be carried by the sling system; a strap having a first endattached to the boot and a second end to extend about a second endportion of the equipment.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the straphas an adjustable length.
 3. The apparatus of claim, wherein the strapcomprises a padded yoke.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the paddedyoke extends from a single yoke first end portion to a pair of spacedyoke end portions.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the strapcomprises: a first strap portion extending between the boot and thesingle yoke first end portion; a second diverging strap portionextending between each of the pair of spaced yoke end portions; and athird strap portion extending from the second diverging strap portion tothe second end of the strap.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theboot comprises a stretch fabric.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe boot has a mouth having a height extending up from a floor to a topof the mouth and a width extending between opposite sides of themountain, the height being greater than the width, wherein the strap isattached to the boot adjacent the top of the mouth.
 8. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the second end of the strap comprises a constrictableopen loop.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the equipment comprisesa firearm having the stock, a trigger and a barrel, wherein the straphas a length such that the second end of the strap encircles the barrelon a side of the trigger opposite the stock while the boot receives thestock.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the equipment comprises acrossbow having the stock, a trigger and a foot stirrup having a neck,wherein the strap has a length such that the second and strap encirclesthe neck of the foot stirrup while the boot receives the stock.
 11. Theapparatus of claim 1 further comprising the equipment, wherein theequipment comprises a firearm having the stock, a trigger and a barrel.12. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising the equipment, whereinthe equipment comprises a crossbow having the stock and a trigger.
 13. Asling system comprising: a boot to receive a stock at a first endportion of an equipment to be carried by the sling system; a straphaving a first end attached to the boot and a second end havingconstrictable open loop to extend about a second end portion of theequipment, wherein the boot has a mouth having a height extending upfrom a floor to a top of the mouth and a width extending betweenopposite sides of the mountain, the height being greater than the width,wherein the strap is attached to the boot adjacent the top of the mouth.14. The sling system of claim 13, wherein the boot comprises a stretchfabric.
 15. A method comprising: inserting a stock of an equipmentwithin a boot; and extending a strap attached to the boot to an end ofthe equipment opposite the stock; and securing an and of the strap tothe end of the equipment.